Android powers 97% of smartphones in India: Strategy Analytics Report

Well, India is all for the Android platform it would seem. A recent report coming in from Strategy Analytics has revealed a surprising statistics. Apparently, of all the smartphones running in the country, almost 97% are powered by Android, leaving just 3% for all other platforms including iOS, to squeeze into.

Android devices are uncommonly common in India — as compared to, say the US — and most of us still sport smartphones running the platform. However, the numbers suggested by the report are quite mind boggling. And wait till you hear this — The platform is still growing in the country.

According to the report, a year ago, nine out of ten devices in the country ran Android. However, the platform has managed to further grow its market share by 7 percent in the span of a single year. The growth can be attributed to its deep integration with OEMs and the extremely wide portfolio of devices available for purchase. Also, in a market as price conscious as India, for many its not a matter of personal choice but simple affordability.

Rajeev Nair, senior analyst, Strategy Analytics, said,

Total smartphone shipments in India grew a healthy 19% annually from 25.8 million units in Q2 2015 to 30.7 million in Q2 2016. India is currently the world’s third-largest smartphone market, after China and the US. India is growing quickly due to low smartphone penetration rates, an expanding middle class with more disposable income, and intense competition among major vendors, retailers and operators.

Considering the sheer size of the Indian smartphone market — not to mention the fact that it is still growing while other major markets are slowing down — the figures are a huge advantage the platform has over its global competitors. And it doesn’t seem like things are about to change anytime soon either.

A staggering 29.8 million Android smartphones were shipped in India in the second quarter of 2016, a 28% annual growth over Q2 2015. Meanwhile, the worldwide picture was rather less exciting as vendors managed to ship a total of 343.3 million smartphones worldwide during the quarter — a growth of merely 0.3% from the second quarter of 2015. However the markets do appear to perking up somewhat with over 3 percent quarterly growth.

Meanwhile, the top 5 list has remained much the same. Samsung has continued occupying the ace spot with and has even gained over competitors thanks to the strong performance of its S7 and S7 Edge devices. On the other hand, Apple managed to reach its lowest point in the last 7 quarters, despite the introduction of iPhone SE.